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The Story Behind Storytime

As I walked to and from my car as a Rolfing Library employee, I was struck by the evidence that, not only was Trinity inhabited by college students, seminary students, and graduate students, it was also inhabited by a much smaller, younger kind of student. The kind that is learning to sing along to VeggieTales, to eat cheerios one by one, and to ride their brightly colored tricycles, now scattered on the green spaces outside family apartments. I wondered what it was like to live on campus as a small family, what resources, entertainment, and community were available to them?

At work, I was hearing that while the children’s movies were popular picks, the children’s books section was not regularly visited and the items within were even less likely to make it home. The collection, while relatively small, is in a prominent location at the front of the library and has multiple classic and award winning books. What could be done to inform the residents what books were available for our youngest patrons?

While these questions were rolling around in my head, I had also been interested in the storytimes that took place at my job as a Youth Services reference assistant at a public library. I observed storytellers when possible, asked many questions of them and my other extremely helpful co-workers, and decided that it was definitely something that I wanted to invest within the Trinity community as well as myself personally and professionally. With the support of my Rolfing supervisor, the help of and involvement of other staff members at Trinity, Storytime became a reality. It is my hope that storytime becomes a time to encourage the awareness of resources, the love of books and reading, and the involvement of family and community in raising the next generation.

2 Comments

Hey Hanna, my kids have been greatly blessed by your ministry and vision in doing Storytime at Rolfing. We live on campus and thus it is very convenient for the family to attend. My wife is full of praise for the effort put into preparing for the Storytime. Trinity has not only become a formative place for my wife and I but also for my kids too. Thanks for having Christ’s heart in you to welcome, receive, love & bless these little ones. Be encouraged that our King says (in Matt 25:40 – though he is not strictly referring to kids but I think it is appropriate in this context), ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ With gratitude, Arthur & Minli